What are the principles of primary health care?

Behind these elements lies a series of basic objectives that should be formulated in national policies to launch and sustain primary healthcare (PHC) as part of a comprehensive health system and coordination with other sectors.

1. Improvement in the level of health care of the community.
2. Favorable population growth structure.
3. Reduction in the prevalence of preventable, communicable, and other diseases.
4. Reduction in morbidity and mortality rates especially among infants and children.
5. Extension of essential health services with priority given to the underserved sectors.
6. Improvement in basic sanitation.
7. Development of the capability of the community aimed at self-reliance.
8. Maximizing the contribution of the other sectors for the social and economic development of the community.
9. Equitable distribution of health care– according to this principle, primary care and other services to meet the main health problems in a community must be provided equally to all individuals irrespective of their gender, age, and caste, urban/rural, and social class.
10. Community participation-comprehensive healthcare relies on adequate numbers and distribution of trained physicians, nurses, allied health professions, community health workers, and others working as a health team and supported at the local and referral levels.
11. Multi-sectional approach-recognition that health cannot be improved by intervention within just the formal health sector; other sectors are equally important in promoting the health and self-reliance of communities.
12. Use of appropriate technology- medical technology should be provided that accessible, affordable, feasible, and culturally acceptable to the community.